Book Review - The Lonely Walk: You Can't Escape Your Past

Fast Paced Novel is chock full of Imagery & Intrigue

By Jonathan Shaw
Copyright © 2008
Published by Xlibris Corporation
ISBN: Hardcover 978-1-4363-6720-2
ISBN: Softcover 978-1-4363-6719-6
Pages: 185

Normally, I would not pick up a book like The Lonely Walk simply because it is fiction. However, I found myself unable to close this one – caught up in the intrigue and mystery surrounding a man named Jif Kitchen.

This rotund figure of a man originally from England, finds himself dropped into dire circumstances on a man-made island called Frontiera where he is to assume the position of building manager for a somewhat shady company called Lime Inc. that the author suggests is a cover for a business that sells arms and other weapons of destruction.

First he meets Kensuka Kemashi from the Japanese interior ministry but soon finds himself caught in an earthquake, a subsequent tsunami and a run for his life.

The Lonely Walk takes the reader on a hectic ride from past to present, present to past at an almost dizzying pace. People are killed – or so it seems, people are enemies – or so it seems. Events occur – or so it seems, which reminds me of a quote by Oprah Winfrey:

“The best thing about dreams is that fleeting moment, when you are between asleep and awake, when you don't know the difference between reality and fantasy, when for just that one moment you feel with your entire soul that the dream is reality, and it really happened.”

Little more can be said without giving away too much of the storyline. It can be noted that Jif becomes captivated by a young, Japanese girl – Yuzuyu - but their true relationship is also fraught with mystery and like the plot, carefully unravels as the story is told. And perhaps most disturbing, Jif’s world is turned upside down when he believes that a young protégé has been killed due to his own decision to hire him when he might not have been ready to take on the job.

Suffice to say, the reader will be swept away by the diverse cast of characters, the ever-twisting plot and especially the author’s ability with creative and effective word usage that leaves one spellbound. Here is an example that occurred just before a train derailment.

“The Kensuka man clutched the yellow pole tightly, wrapping his arms around it and himself. His face shrank from smiling to bewilderment and disbelief. His mouth was wide open. He kept glancing around, waiting for it to be over.

Jif couldn’t bear to watch. He didn’t want to see himself die. He screwed his eyes shut and clenched his teeth, gripping the seat. He heard the windows breaking and metal tearing. The rocking was jumbling his intestines about. He lost his grip and fell near vertically onto the train wall. His head smacked whatever there was in front of him. He couldn’t breathe under his own weight. He passed out.”

For more information on this amazing first novel by English writer, Jonathan Shaw, go HERE. To purchase a copy of this book go HERE.

See The Lonely Walk Trailer HERE.